Advice of Buying Water Maker for Long Trip

[HighFly_27]

Hello All,

I'm Outfitting my Islander-37 MS for a Long Trip from Panama City, FL to New Zealand and Return.

I have been reading the posts here. I read that the Spectra is one of the favorites. It's a simple type unit with low 12 Volt amperage draw and draws from the battery's & solar cells.

My Question -- which one _______ ? This water maker is being bought for the needs of two people and total cost is important but Reliability is the bottom line.

Also, a back up Water Maker is being bought for the ditching bag. I''d like a recommended model ________ ? for the ditching bag as well and lower cost but reliable as well.

I'm adding a Marine Gen. in 5.5 K range as well, advice on best model & price _______________ ?

Thanks in Advance,

Avery

[laika]

Hi Avery,

The Spectra Cape Horn X was my choice. The second feed pumps adds redundancy and output without adding much complexity or bulk. It's very nice to be able to fill the water tanks twice as fast so you don't hear the thing running all day, and it's nice to be able to utilize the high sun hours when you might otherwise throw amps away once the batts are already topped off. We had an issue with a feed pump last year in a remote area and were still able to make water while we fixed it.

We have Katydyn Powersurvivor 06 for the ditch bag. A new one will run about $1k but you can buy used ones for much cheaper and replace the membrane.

Cheers
Ryan

[a64pilot]

If you want a Spectra, I’d get into contact with Tellie, a member here who I believe sells, services and installs them.
I believe it’s not simply a matter of which is best, but that there are several models and depending on how much water you need etc. there may be more than one best. Tellie will recommend which one is best for you.

However you also say your installing a generator. If so you may want to consider a 120 VAC Watermaker, which I believe can be much less expensive than a Spectra.
Spectra’s are super efficient energy wise, meaning they make water very, very efficiently, but to be so efficient, costs money.
If you have a generator you can in truth throw efficiency out of the window, maybe what you want there is high output out of a much less expensive, much more simple Watermaker.


Then generator wise isn’t a simple answer either, really. If money, weight and size are not an issue and you want a generator that you can run for extended times and least for 10,000 hours, well then likely you want a Northern Lights.

However if you won’t run the generator for days on end, just a couple of times a week for a few hours each run and money, size and weight are more precious, and you would accept a lifetime of say 5,000 hours, well maybe a Nexgen is better.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

If you have a generator you can in truth throw efficiency out of the window, maybe what you want there is high output out of a much less expensive, much more simple Watermaker.

I agree, but would phrase it

If you have a generator, you may want to check out the high-GPH units it enables.

Efficient units designed to run off mostly-solar setups are very low-GPG, so unless you conserve water use, must run for many hours per week.

Personally even with the quieter units, I prefer silent running AMAP, so prefer getting lots of water just a couple short sessions per week.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by HighFly_27

I'm adding a Marine Gen. in 5.5 K range as well, advice on best model & price _______________ ?

Thanks in Advance,

Avery

The generator opens up the option of a $4400 20-GPH or $5300 30-GPH water maker. Compare that price and output to a Spectra and well...yes I like Spectra also if you don't plan to have a generator aboard, but if you do.....you can use it and save money on the water maker and get higher output. If your generator was to die (nothing ever breaks on a cruising boat right) then you can run either the 20 or 30 GPH water maker through a 2000W inverter while your alternator is running helping your batteries carry the load. So that way you have some back-up OR if you are motoring, you can flip on the inverter and make water for "free" energy wise.

Here is a good set of Water Maker YouTube Installation Planning videos that will not only help you think through the install planning, but also give you a little education about how water makers work and what parts are involved:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...hByNY30vRR1uFs

[robert sailor]

I'd go with the Spectra 150..it puts out plenty of water for 2 people and is low amp draw...It's also the most affordable Spectra model and fits in some tight spaces. Ours gives us around 7 gallons per hour with the panels drawing.

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

I'd go with the Spectra 150..it puts out plenty of water for 2 people and is low amp draw...It's also the most affordable Spectra model and fits in some tight spaces. Ours gives us around 7 gallons per hour with the panels drawing.

This is what I went with as well - Spectra 150D. But I do not have a generator. I run the unit off of the solar panels in the afternoon, when the solar output complete covers the draw of the Spectra. Yields 7 gal/hr at 8 amps. Wife and I used about 10 gal per day, so we run the unit every 2-3 days. You give back about 3 gal in the flush afterwards. It's a quiet unit, highest DC output, but not cheap.

If you plan to run your generator anyway, you probably need to use Rich's Cruise RO watermaker. It would have been my choice, if we had other use for the Honda gen.

[GALAWA]

When I bought my previously owned catamaran, she came with a 12O liters/h, 220 VAC, 3 K watts Watermaker + a 200 Kilos, 5 KWatts Northern Light generator.
My cat was built and (unwisely) fitted with these equipment in 1999
The generator had logged less than 1000 hours.
Unwisely, I kept both.

With this configuration, a fault in either the generator, or the water maker deprives you of water making facility.
The electronic voltage controler of the generator failed 3 days after leaving Capo Verde islands. Luckily I still had 300 liters in my fresh water tank and 11 days to sail to Martinique.

I experienced multiple failures of the electronics, sensors, relays, auxiliary wiring of my generator. Some of these failures were so vicious that reputed Northern Light dealers in the Caribbeans where helpless.
I eventually overcame these failures only thanks to being an electrical engineers.

I recommend the following :
Unless you want to run air conditioning, do away with an AC generator.
(Especially a 200 Kg Northern Light on a 37 ' boat )
Put in a 12 V high efficiency watermaker.
Fit a 100 (or more) Amps alternator with a 3 states external controller on your main diesel.
Add solar panels;
and a 2 KW inverter.

This configuration is fare more reliable than one depending on an AC generator.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by GALAWA

With this configuration, a fault in either the generator, or the water maker deprives you of water making facility..

Not with a Cruise RO 20 or 30 gallon per hour unit.
If you generator dies, you just run the water make from a 2000W inverter with your engine/alternator running so that gives you not just a back-up way to make water, but also a way to maker water underway while motoring so that when you arrive at your anchorage you tanks are full. The redundancy issue is also why I like the dual membrane 30GPH unit over the single membrane 20GPH unit. If one of your two membranes was to fail on you, you can run the water maker on a single membrane and carry on. 12v DC Water maker typically don't have dual membranes to give you this back-up membrane feature.

[Pete7]

Rich, just a minor query, does the inverter need to be a pure sine wave or will a modified type work to turn the electric motor?

Pete

[Peeew]

I need a Watermaker for a long trip and I have a genset on board already. Since I won’t need the Watermaker in my home waters I went for the Rainman portable. 120 volts. 30+ gal/hour. And then I can easily remove it from the boat and take it home. No reason to antifreeze it. No installation cost. No new through hills. All standard off the shelf parts and filters. Makes sense for my needs. I know they make 12 volt and gasoline powered units also but I need to run the gen once or twice a week anyway so I might as well use it for this and get my tanks full up.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Rich, just a minor query, does the inverter need to be a pure sine wave or will a modified type work to turn the electric motor?

Pete

Hey Pete I have seen some modified wave inverters work but the start and run capacitors on the low wattage Motors are going to be much happier with pure sine wave current

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Peeew

Rainman water maker...no new through hulls

The problem is without a dedicated through hull, you can't make water under way. The early Rainman advertising literature talked about doing that but then they found that the air bubbles being pulled in can cause pump cavitation and damage the membranes. The problem is it works until it doesn't (and you pull in gulps of air) then you rupture your membranes out in the middle of nowhere....goodbye water maker

[a64pilot]

Well maybe I have been lucky, I haven’t had much issues with my Cheapo Nexgen.
However I can run my Watermaker easily off of my 165 amp alternator and Magnum inverter, both of which I’d have even without a watermaker.
Plus, my little Honda 2000 will also run it, I’d have the Honda regardless of a Watermaker anyway.


Watermaker type whether AC or DC really depends on in my opinion on whether or not you decide to have a generator.
I decided quite awhile ago that I wanted to have one for battery health, washing clothes and other luxuries, like an ice maker and yes on the rare occasion when it’s very hot and muggy, and the mosquitos are out, you can close up and Cool the boat down, you don’t have to feed the mosquitos.
Yes of course you can wash clothes in a bucket and ferry water in the dinghy, however I’d rather not. To say nothing of a nice shower whenever you want one, even when you don’t feel dirty, a cool shower late in the evening goes a long way to staying cool and sleeping good in warm weather.

Weight sensitive boats? Maybe a heavy built in Diesel gen set is not such a good idea.

[mvmojo]

We made 10's of thousands of gallons of water using an engine driven high pressure pump system from AquaMarine,, https://www.aquamarineinc.net/. The feed water was tee'd off the engine raw water pump per manufacturers instructions. With one 2540 membrane we made 20+ gph. Used it for years with no problems, "winterized" it for another 5 years, recommissioned the unit on a different boat with a 220v electric motor driven pump and are still making good water. Relatively inexpensive, easy to install and maintain.